A half-century puzzle solved
Hong Wang has won the 2026 Fields Medal, one of the highest honors in mathematics. The International Mathematical Union announced the award on July 23. Wang, 35, is a professor at New York University and at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques (IHES) in France.
The prize recognizes her proof of the Kakeya conjecture in three-dimensional space. The problem asks a simple-sounding question: how much room does a needle need to turn around in every direction? Mathematicians had worked on it for half a century. Wang's proof, described by experts as a once-in-a-century result, finally settled it.
A rare honor for women in mathematics
Wang is the third woman to win the Fields Medal in the award's 90-year history. Maryam Mirzakhani of Iran became the first in 2014. Maryna Viazovska of Ukraine followed in 2022. Wang is also the first Chinese woman to receive the medal.
The Fields Medal is awarded every four years to mathematicians under the age of 40. Wang is one of four recipients this year, along with Yu Deng, John Pardon and Jacob Tsimerman.
A rising star's path
Wang grew up in Guilin, China, and studied at Peking University before earning her doctorate in the United States. Her work spans Fourier analysis and geometric measure theory.
The Kakeya proof brought her a string of prizes, including the Salem Prize, the Ostrowski Prize and the Clay Research Award. In September 2025, she became only the second woman to hold a tenured professorship at IHES, an institution whose permanent chairs were held almost exclusively by men for more than sixty years.